BROOD OF APOCALYPSE

Written by Felix Vasquez Jr.

Prescript – Dedicated to all my friends at the site.

Egypt 20345 A.D.

The dusky age old sands of Egypt brushed along the wind like a small tornado crashing through the mountainous sand dunes, the sprinkle of the brown ancient sand brushing along the age old rock formations. There arose a harsh fowl wind along the night, as the wind howled eerily among the many sand hills. The sand had risen due to a natural occurrence among the Earth, and two figures trudged among the sand dunes covered among the relentless sand storm.

"Nothing but sand," a voice muttered in the storm.

"It's Egypt," replied a partner, "did you expect snow?" The two archaeologists walked covered in clothing and masks that covered their face from the probing sand that seeped into their clothing. One man, an older bearded gentleman carried a large map in his hands, guiding himself by the description. By his side stood a young woman of Asian descent who wore goggles and a mask that covered her face and staggered among the sand.

The old man stopped in the sand and looked around confusingly,

"What is it?" asked the woman.

"This is the spot," he declared.

"It is?" she asked looking around struggling to see through the blanket of sand, "it can't be… it's just more sand."

"It's here," he argued pointing on the map, "It's beneath the miles of sand, remember what happened back in 20200?"

"Sure," she replied, "I read it in the history discs. Egypt was completely buried under thousands of miles of sand due to a natural occurrence with the planet's rotation period. Everyone in the country was killed, very few survived. However, most of the country's landmarks were completely covered with sand including the pyramids and the Sphinx."

"Very good," he remarked, "Now, I've been told there's an underground tunnel dug by some of our excavators. There's been a legend that says there is an advanced machine down there that will enable us to solve the world's poverty and famine."

"You don't actually believe that," she asked skeptically.

"Right now we're desperate," he explained, "the department needs the grant from the government and we have to find the machine or else many of the world's population will enter into starvation and death... the black plague is still evident in some countries."

"Just the two of us?" she asked.

"We'll survey it first," he explained, "then more will arrive to come and dig it out." They walked along the sand and finally walked atop a hollow stone block that protruded from the sand.

"Here," he said looking onto the stone block.

"That's odd," she marveled, "what now?" He knelt down in an exhausted grunt and began scurrying his hands along the surface. Finally, he reached down to small panels and lifted them in an instant. He turned and lifted two more panels that stood hidden in the sand. "Eureka!" he declared aloud. Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound arose from the ground as it shook the two wildly. She grabbed the man and pulled him off the panel as it slowly began descending into the ground. "My word!" he shouted in amazement as he watched the pillar sink down quickly. They stood up as the rumbling ceased and watched a large entrance emerge from the sand.

"Was that there when the pyramids were?" she asked.

"I haven't a clue," he replied, "Shall we?"

"A-After you," she replied nervously. He lurched forward and pulled out a flashlight from his backpack. There stood dusky stairs that lay within the shadows as the sand leaked into the entrance. He stepped down lightly and slowly, terrified he may stir an accident and began making his way down the steps. The woman watched in amazement and waited to hear his voice.

"It's okay," he called from the shadows, "Join me." She pulled out her flashlight and flashed the light into the darkness, almost afraid to even make a move. She stepped down onto the steps and began following the light from the man's flashlight which she saw ahead of her.

They walked along the ancient structure and slowly trekked along a dark and dusty hallway which stood plastered with ancient hieroglyphics. For educated people, they failed to read the hieroglyphics which clearly warned of any intruders.

"There's no booby traps," said the woman, "The Egyptians are known for their traps but it's all so easy."

"Obviously this was created on the spur of the moment," he observed, "they were trying to hide the ultimate machine from the public."

"Ah," she remarked, "Every government is alike." They continued to press forward among the ancient structure and stopped at a clearing which bore no other passage.

"This is it?" she asked looking at the empty space.

"No," he muttered breathless, "it can't be!" He looked around frantically and stood utterly speechless at the disappointment before his eyes, "I've spent all my life researching and studying for a simple dead end?"

"This is why I didn't want to go on this expedition in the first place!" she argued walking along the clearing, "disappointment. I knew it!" Suddenly the floor began to crumble like dust beneath her feet. She let out a scream and began running towards her partner who reached out for her, but it was too late, the floor had all but deteriorated under her and she fell to the depths below screaming in horror. The doctor called out to her, reaching for her as he watched her disappear into the shadows. He fell to his knees as he watched in horror at her death.

"Doctor Carter," a voice called from within the shadows.

"Wh- wh- Is that you, Kelly?" he screamed.

"Yes," she replied, "I'm hurt… but I'm alright."

"What is down there?" he asked.

"It's… its unbelievable!" she replied, "You have to witness this for yourself!" He stood up hesitantly and dropped a long rope into the shadows and looped it onto a pillar before his eyes. He strapped it around his plump waist and slowly descended into the chasm below. She lay on the floor, her knee badly hurt as she watched Doctor Carter descend down, the light from above shining down.

He dropped onto the ground and looked around at the darkness waving his flashlight around in wonder. He rushed over to his Kelly and knelt down observing her wound.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm… fine," she replied blankly, her eyes fixated upon a mysterious sight. She tapped his shoulder gently and pointed ahead of her. He looked back in confusion and suddenly gasped in wonder as his eyes widened in amazement.

"My god," he muttered breathlessly, "I-I-It's the machine!" Before their eyes stood a large pyramid shaped sarcophagus which stood among the ancient artifacts that stood strewn among its surrounding and lay in the center of an immense bright spotlight that shone down upon its surface. The sarcophagus glow an eerie blue aura that glimmered and pulsed as if it was alive.

Doctor Carter let out a victorious laugh and stood up, instantly running towards it in glee. Kelly still stood lying on the ground watching in awe as the doctor marveled at its appearance.

"This is it!" he screamed, "This is what I've spent my entire life on! It's finally within my grasp! Ha ha! I'm going to win the Nobel Prize for this discovery. We both will!"

"What does it do?" she asked.

"It will solve world hunger, end hatred and wars!" he declared.

"How can you be sure?" she asked, "It's too easy."

"You're such a cynic," he argued, "which will ultimately lead to your dismissal in the department." He turned towards the machine and began observing its devices with his eyes, bearing a large smile of wonderment.

"Ah-ha!" he declared with a laugh. He began pressing a sequence of buttons before him quickly and stood back awaiting the machine's activation.

"How did you know to do that?" she asked confused.

"It somehow came to me," he replied stunned, "Amazing. What if this machine provides knowledge?" Suddenly there arose a low hum that echoed through the chasm below, the sarcophagus suddenly becoming brighter and brighter by the second. They watched in amazement and horror as the machine before them activated, the dials and tubes glimmering with a haunting white glow. The pyramid began to break apart, its structure splitting in many pieces as it began to reveal a mysterious shape from within.

Suddenly a large glowing white orb emerged from the top of the pyramid and dove down onto the inside of the sarcophagus. With a bolt of light is smashed into the inside of what looked like a coffin. The coffin with ancient engravings suddenly began splitting in two. They could barely bring themselves to move as they watched in wonderment at the spectacle before their eyes. From within, two eyes opened wide, a dark force re-awakening once more. They continued witnessing the miracle before them as a large mountainous figure emerged sitting up slowly, its body muscle-bound and statuesque, its haunting blue skin shining in the light.

The figure turned its head noticing the presence of the two witnesses and glared at them with a horrifying gleam. It stood so tall and towering as it slowly hovered from the tomb and turned upward, its body hovering along the air. Its body resembled that of a machine combined with a demon, his red eyes glowing it looked down onto them with an unimpressed glare.

"Just as I had planned," the doctor muttered amazed.

"No, doctor," it replied, "Just as I had planned." He lifted his large hand up and pointed his palm at Kelly who lay watching in amazement. Suddenly a green ray blasted from his hand and smashed in Kelly; she let out a horrified scream as she was lifted off the ground by the being's power and lifted her in the air.

"Kelly, no!" Carter screamed, "Leave her alone!"

"You sought to seek the ultimate knowledge, yet came upon more than you bargained for," the figure said, "Pity. All those wasted years were in vain; its knowledge you seek?" He clenched his hands into a fist as Kelly screamed aloud in pain, her body suddenly bursting into thin air into oblivion.

"P-Please," the doctor pleaded whimpering, "Don't kill me."

"The ultimate sacrifice of knowledge is pain," he replied blasting the doctor and lifting him off the ground. The doctor cried aloud in pain as he hovered off the ground, his body twisting in agonizing pain, "the only knowledge man will ever know is pain, pestilence and death."

"Who… are…you?" muttered the doctor in pain.

"My birth name is En Sabah Nur, but to mortals I am Apocalypse!" he declared in a thunderous proclamation, "Bringer of death, and homo-superior being of all existence. I have conquered lands and destroyed alien races among the galaxy who dare to challenge me. You have awoken me from my eternal slumber and I live again, reborn and rejuvenated! Doctor, your expediency to me has drawn to a close."

Like a Greek lord, he closed his hand tight, the doctor bellowing aloud in agonizing pain as white orbs surrounded his body and in one instant enveloped him. Within an instant, his body burst into thin air emerging into oblivion. Apocalypse watched the dust settle among the ground as his two pawns in his plan has been easily extinguished before his hands. He was god, he was almighty, and he'd gotten rid of them like the measly human ants they were.

"So it commences," he declared, "Dormant for centuries within this infernal tomb… they thought they could imprison me forever! The Fools! Those peasants could not fathom my vast superior intelligence." He hovered into the sarcophagus, the pyramid structure now re-forming into a pyramid enveloping the blue god. "The reign of apocalypse has begun once more," he muttered, "This time I shall conquer this infernal planet." The pyramid began hovering off the ground revealing to be a spacecraft. A large wormhole emerged from thin air and like a vacuum it consumed the pyramid whole leaving behind dust and sparks in its path.

Present Day:
New York State 2003 A.D. …

"We now join Susan Stokes for our special report on "Mutant Attacks" here on MBC. Susan?"

"Thank you Steve," said the reporter, "Over the past month there have emerged a rash of attacks from wild mutants upon innocent joggers among the area, and tonight we will speak to a survivor of an attack on this menace called Mutants." A young thin woman appeared on the screen sitting among a black background, her eyes dripping tears as she talked.

"Can you tell us what happened during this attack?"

"I was jogging and suddenly… a mutant came out from the bushes and attacked me!" she cried, "It was horrible… it had seven eyes, two heads, three feet, and eight hooves. I hate mutants, I hate them!"

"These mutants are a menace!" cried out a young man in black, "They must be stopped!"

"Three feet and eight hooves?" asked Firestarter, "how is it possible to have only three feet but eight hooves?" Firestarter, the counselor of the X-academy sat in the television room in front of the television holding the remote as he and other younger students watched television on that lazy early Sunday afternoon.

"Why is it they always ask the crazy people about mutants?" asked a student.

"Because the sane people know better," replied Cyclops who stood over them watching the program in disgust, "What are you all sitting around when there's so much to do?"

"It's Sunday Mr. Summers," replied a student, "During the week we work, but Sunday is when we relax."

"Wrong," he argued, "Sunday is clean up day around the campus. I want all you kids to go to your dorms and clean up because Ms. Munroe is going to do an inspection."

Annoyed groans emerged from the students as they stood up staggering off to their dorms, some of whom teleported into thin air to their rooms.

"I'm a teacher," replied Firestarter, "So I can be lazy."

"You sure about that?" asked Scott.

"I work to the bone six days a week, I'm relaxing," he argued.

"Why don't you help Beast re-configure Cerebro?" he asked.

"And what about you?" he whined.

"I'm supervising the training session between Logan and Kurt in the danger room and continue the reconfiguration on the training sequences with Professor Xavier," he explained.

"Alright, alright!" he groaned standing up and clicking off the television knowing he'd been defeated, "this calls for mutiny."

"Stick your landing," an older student urged as he stood watching a young girl hovering in mid-air. Her dark air waved in the wind as she held her arms out to her sides using her mind to fly. The two students stood behind a tree amidst the open field as children ran around playing, some even playing sports. It was unusual for students to train on Sunday, but they wanted to get ahead.

"I got it," she muttered attempting not to lose her concentration, "I got it."

"You have to stick your landing," the older boy urged her, "You'll—"

"Will you back off?" she said calmly, "I can control my own abilities."

"Oka-ay," he replied in a sing song voice, "I warned you." A silence arose; she raised her head up and sighed as she slowly descended onto the ground. Suddenly she began to stagger amidst the air and violently crashed onto the ground. The boy watched her with a smile, "Told you," he replied.

"Ow," she said sitting on the grass as she rubbed her knee, "I think I sprained my knee, can you help me get to the medical office?"

"Will you listen to me next time?" he asked.

"Yes, now help me up you goon!" she screamed sticking her arms out to him.

"Come on," he said helping her off the ground. It was just another busy hectic day at the Xavier Institute for the Gifted. To outsiders, this place would be deemed to busy and noisy to even think, but to those that lived here, some shielded from the outside world, it was just another day. The noise and screams of the children seemed like a sound as average as birds chirping. There was never a day of quiet in the school everyday was busy, even when the weekend approached.

"Read me those codes would you?" asked Hank. He stood in front of Cerebro wearing a large headphone set as he clicked into the computer mother board of the master computer glaring into the machine.

"P-4-8-2-H-6-8-3-I-7-7," replied Firestarter as he read from the clipboard, "What if someone is listening to the codes? You know, like a spy?"

"Unfeasible," replied Hank, "this room is invulnerable to outside sounds that may interfere with the computer's main hard drive while attempting to mark a mutants DNA or prevent exposing any of its main technological outputs."